1. Technical Field
The disclosure generally relates to connection apparatuses, particularly to a connection apparatus and connection method for testing Storage Bridge Bay Midplane Interconnect (SBBMI) devices.
2. Description of Related Art
The SBB working group is a nonprofit corporation formed by industry members to develop and distribute specification standardization of storage enclosures. The SBB specification defines the SBBMI interface for connection of storage control cards and storage units, such as hard disks. The storage control card exchanges information with the storage unit by a SBBMI interface.
Thirteen types of SBBMI connectors named M1-M13 according to the SBB specification are defined to connect the storage control card and the hard disk. Referring to FIGS. 7-9, pins of the connector M1-M13 are arrayed in 9*6 matrixes. The nine lines are defined as A-I. The six rows are defined as 01-06. The pins are defined as the combination of the corresponding line and row such as the pin A01 and A02. 15 pairs of the pins A01/B01, D01/E01, B02/C02, E02/F02, H02/I02, A03/B03, D03/E03, G03/H03, B04/C04, E04/F04, A05/B05, D05/E05, G05/H05, B06/C06, and E06/F06 of the connector are used to connect two storage cards. Twelve pairs of pins D01/E01, G01/H01, E02/F02, H02/I02, D03/E03, G03/H03, E04/F04, H04/I04, D05/E05, G05/H05, E06/F06, and H06/I06 are used to connect a storage control card to a hard disk.
During manufacturing, signal transmissions of the connectors M1-M13 are usually tested by a test apparatus such as an oscilloscope. However, multiple connectors corresponding to the connectors M1-M13 are needed to connect the connectors M1-M13 for their excessive pins.
Therefore, there is room for improvement within the art.